


Marble is Beautiful and Brittle

by Buttercream_Daydreams



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Baby Steven Universe, Bad Parenting, Corporal Punishment, Did I Mention Dysfunctional Relationships?, Dysfunctional Relationships, F/F, Gem Egg Hell, Gemlings, Grief/Mourning, Non-Explicit Sex, Non-Sexual, Salty Amethyst, Self-Destructive Pearl, Spanking, Sparring, Stoic Garnet, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Unplanned Pregnancy, only in first chapter, very brief - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:34:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23151043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Buttercream_Daydreams/pseuds/Buttercream_Daydreams
Summary: In the wake of Rose's death, everything is tense.  And then Amethyst throws more chaos into the mix.  Whoops.
Relationships: Amethyst/Pearl (Steven Universe), Ruby/Sapphire (Steven Universe)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 56





	1. Chapter 1

Amethyst couldn't believe she was stuck in this mess. She wasn’t fit to be a mother, especially not one with an unsupportive sire.

This was why she had procrastinated on telling Pearl and Garnet about this. 

The clutch was sired after she came home from Greg’s. They had been watching _Little Butler_ together until Amethyst fucked up. She _always_ fucked up things. She had shifted herself into Rose Quartz. She had meant to cheer him up, but he had gotten upset and kicked her out. 

She had come home that night, not bothering to shift back. Garnet had glowered at her from under her visor before entering the temple, a stormy expression on her face. Pearl had a different reaction. She begged Amethyst to kiss her, to hold her. Kissing and holding turned into making out, which turned into feeling each other up, which turned into sex.

Yes sex. Not lovemaking, _sex_ . Both of them had done it out of grief and a need for comfort, not out of any love or affection for the other. Pearl had called her _Rose_ throughout the whole act, avoiding eye contact and focusing instead on the pink curls, the love handles, and sobbing into the puffy shoulders of her shapeshifted white dress hiked up to Amethyst’s stomach.

Amethyst shuddered as she peaked, her core clenching around Pearl’s shaft. She couldn’t hold the form any longer. She returned to her normal state of an scrawny overcooked runt of an Amethyst, most certainly not a beautiful, curvy Rose Quartz.

But Pearl herself was already past the point of no return, her knot tying itself inside Amethyst as the smaller gem’s walls pulled her in, filling the smaller gem with hot liquid. The next half hour was possibly the most tense of Amethyst’s life. The two couldn’t avoid looking at each other in their position. They laid in stony silence, tears dripping off Pearl’s nose, down her chin, falling onto Amethyst’s stomach. 

Amethyst knew that they had conceived. How could she not? She had cravings for seaweed and sand and hot glue. She had eaten all of Steven’s rubber bath toys and silicone teething rings. She had eaten the bald tires from Greg’s van and the dock Yellowtail parked his boat against. She was even more tired and cranky than usual. And most telling was her stomach. It had swelled up enough that Vidalia had mentioned, and she could feel it moving.

But Pearl avoided her after their night together and Garnet was another story entirely. Rose’s death had forced her to be a leader whether she was ready or not. She was so stressed about finding corruptions before humans and their civilizations got hurt, being nice to Greg (because stars knew Amethyst and Pearl were awkward around him), and keeping Pearl from shattering herself.

The last time Garnet had caught Pearl sobbing and quivering with her spear pointed at her gem, Ruby and Sapphire had unfused for a week. Ruby had burnt the wood floors they had put in the base and Sapphire had frozen Pearl’s fountains solid. 

Amethyst didn’t want to be the cause of more stress for Garnet, and she kept it to herself. 

This was why she was crouching on the floor in the loft, pushing out gemlings alone except for an eighteen month old hybrid. Pearl had fucked off to stars knew where, having another fucking breakdown, and Garnet was on a solo mission searching for a pair of corrupted Citrines. 

She and Steven had created a blanket fort in the loft, using pillows and couch cushions a day earlier. Pearl had left in a huff, upset because Amethyst was ‘making a mess.’ Amethyst had screamed at her, even summoned her whip when Pearl tried to dismantle it. She knew she was in for it when Garnet got back.

She supposed that was some type of nesting instinct. The toddler would have been asleep if it hadn’t been for her sobbing and panting. By early morning, she had pushed out a small wet pile of fluffy gemlings. She licked them clean on autopilot, and then Steven’s head, and promptly fell asleep; the babies curled up into her embrace.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garnet comes home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry.

Amethyst awoke with a start. She could feel something crawling on her. Multiple somethings to be precise. She kept her eyes closed, moaning in annoyance. Gems didn't strictly _need_ to sleep, but it felt good to rest, and she had pushed an innumerable amount of gemlings out of a tiny passageway a few hours earlier. 

From in front of her, she heard a chirping sound. Figuring it would go away if she ignored it, she kept her eyes closed. The noise increased in volume and frequency and she cracked her eye open a slit.

She opened her eyes. A tiny purple Pearl laid squirming in front of her. Oh yeah, she was a mom now. Oh shit.

She could feel more gemlings moving in her hair. How many of the damn things were there? And where was Steven? Oh stars. 

The sky through the window was still dark. It had been what, three hours? She was exhausted. It was too early. The chirps increased in pitch, and Amethyst knew she was needed.

"Just as demanding as your sire, aren't you?" she asked rhetorically, knowing that the creature was far too young to understand her. Hopefully.

She took the noisy Pearl into her palm. The Pearl curled up into her palm, her cries quieting. She lifted the little gemling up to her face to better inspect it. 

The gemling had the same coloration as Amethyst. She was bright purple but had spindly limbs like her sire and a smooth gem taking up most of her stomach. She decided she was done letting her mother have a good look at her and leapt into Amethyst’s mane, joining the rest of her siblings. A chorus of annoyed noises followed as the gemlings adjusted themselves.

Amethyst sat up carefully, mindful of her litter. Her young pulled at her hair, scrambling to keep their footing on their mother. 

“Ah, stop pulling my hair,” whined Amethyst. “Gah, _stooop_ it! Fuck!”

She pushed a cushion from the couch into the corner furthest from the stair railing and rolled the edges of the blanket so her litter couldn’t fall off. 

“Alright you little monsters, you’re hurting Mama,” she said. One by one, she began prying the gemlings from her mane, setting them down. 

The first she found was a slumbering Amethyst. The gemling yawned and stretched groggily. She grunted in annoyance as Amethyst set her down, falling asleep again quickly. Her mane was pink, like her sire's.

The following was another Amethyst. This one was pale, like her sire, with a dark purple mane. She curled up on the blanket, shifting to find a comfortable position. 

The third gemling Amethyst recognized. She was the purple Pearl that had woken her. The Amethysts were all roughly the size of a jelly jar, and the Pearl was about an inch shorter, and much less bulky. She whined, pawing at the blanket in discomfort until she crawled to the Amethysts next to her. She huddled close to them, chirping softly.

Amethyst carefully detached a curious Amethyst from behind her neck. This one was a twin of the first, but more alert. She crawled around the cushion, taking in her surroundings. She laid down a bit away from the pile.

Finally was another Pearl, this one a carbon copy of her sire. Although she was smaller than even her Pearl sister and definitely the runt, she was active. She swiped at the noisy pearl, huffing at her. The other Pearl hissed back. The pink haired Amethyst grunted in her sleep, her eyes still closed.

“Hey, stop that,” Amethyst admonished, putting her hand between the two. The pink haired Pearl chomped down on her finger, drawing blood.

“Dammit!” yelped Amethyst, drawing her hand back without thinking. The Pearl, teeth still embedded in her finger, bit down harder, wrapping her gangly arms and legs around Amethyst’s hand.

“Oh, _shit_ ,” said Amethyst, cupping her hand under the thoroughly frightened Pearl. She stroked the frail back of the gemling, and gradually the baby’s teeth receded. She sucked anxiously on Amethyst’s fingers, trembling fearfully. 

She was so, _so_ itty bitty. She fit into Amethyst's cupped hands. So new and _fragile_. More fragile than Steven when he was born. And she had almost hurt her. She was a shitty mother. She had been a mother for less than a day and she already fucked up. She had scared her baby. What was wrong with her? Why was she such a fuckup? She set down the gemling with the others.

The gravity of the situation sunk in and tears began pouring down her face. “You’re better off away from me,” she cried. She couldn't bring herself to look at them. She didn't _deserve_ to look at them. Pearl’s voice echoed in her head; _reckless, irresponsible, impulsive and vulgar._ Maybe Pearl was right about her.

She stuck two other cushions against the sides that weren't facing the walls to be extra sure they couldn't fall off, and then she curled up into a fetal position, shaking silently, tears rolling down her face. 

Her sobbing wasn't quiet enough and Steven woke up. He toddled over to her, his fat arms outstretched. 

"Ama'tis sad?" he asked. His arms windmilled as he tripped over a crease in a quilt. 

To Amethyst's horror, a purple blob fell off, landing on a thin blanket. There was an audible thump and then a wail. Faster than Amethyst thought possible, she rushed over, knocking Steven over in the process. 

But Amethyst was focused on the fallen gemling. She scooped her up, checking frantically for injuries. The gemling was fine, her fall less than a foot. 

She was a small Amethyst, a miniature of Amethyst herself. Shaking, Amethyst placed her with the other gemlings. 

How many were there? The night before was blurry. She could only remember pushing and pushing. 

She _had_ to impress upon Steven that the babies were fragile. He could easily squish them. Could gemlings catch germs? A million snenarios of the babies getting hurt or worse flashed across her mind. Stars, she was terrible at this mothering thing. Protective instinct was clouding her mind. She saw red. 

"Bad boy!" she shouted, making him stumble backwards. "What is wrong with you? You could have killed her! You're getting a spanking."

A spanking was something Vidalia told her about. She used it on Sour Cream, but only when he had endangered himself or others. She had never done it to the four year old in front of her, but it sounded simple enough. _Well,_ thought Amethyst, _this was an appropriate time then._

She yanked him away from where he was crawling curiously to her clutch and flipped him over her knee. 

"NEVER. DO. THAT. AGAIN." she said, punctuating each word with a swat. "BAD. BOY. VERY. BAD. BOY. WHAT. THE. FUCK. IS. WRONG. WITH. YOU. YOU. DO. NOT. EVER-"

"Amethyst!" said a shocked voice from below her. She heard quick heavy footsteps on the stairs. Garnet was more furious than she had ever seen her.

"Ga'nit!" bawled Steven. Garnet picked him up, bouncing him on her hips until he quieted. 

"Explain," she commanded. Her volume was still at a normal level and her tone was even, but there was a controlled rage simmering under the surface. 

  
"I leave, for less than a _week_ , and _this_ is what I return to. Steven is in a dirty diaper, he's not in his crib, and you're hitting him. You better have a damn good explanation."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rose's death is still fresh in the minds of everyone. That is why we see Garnet split up more easily, and why Amethyst is so much more salty. I know Amethyst swears a lot, but I feel that isn't too OOC for her. Her VA did voices for GTA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-zy3w_86iY.
> 
> Amethyst misunderstood Vidalia's explanation of spankings. Vidalia does not spank SC like that.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which everyone is tense and irritable.

_ “Amethyst!” said a shocked voice from below her. She heard quick heavy footsteps on the stairs. Garnet was more furious than she had ever seen her. _

_ “Ga'nit!” bawled Steven. Garnet picked him up, bouncing him on her hips until he quieted.  _

_ “Explain,” she commanded. Her volume was still at a normal level and her tone was even, but there was a controlled rage simmering under the surface.  _

_ “I leave, for less than a week, and this is what I return to. Steven is in a dirty diaper, he's not in his crib, and you’re hitting him. You better have a damn good explanation.” _

Steven quieted, taking the rare opportunity to snatch Garnet’s visor while he was in reach. He played with them, looking curiously at his reflection in the lenses. Garnet’s lips twitched upwards slightly before settling once more into a firm line. She chose to not to phase on another set of shades, leaving her eyes exposed.

Amethyst gulped. All three of Garnet’s eyes were focused solely on her in disappointment and anger. She had dealt with an upset Garnet in the past; when Garnet had broken her out of jail on a few occasions, for throwing things into Pearl's fountain, for shapeshifting into a corruption to scare Pearl, and for scaring local humans as an eagle. 

This was worse than all of those put together. The Crystal Gems had agreed to uphold Rose’s legacy by taking care of her son. Steven looked fearful, clinging to Garnet’s waist. This was not taking care of Steven, this was the opposite. 

And Garnet still didn't know about the gemlings. The gemlings were here, no longer tucked away in her stomach. Thankfully they were tucked away against the corner near the window, fast asleep. But they wouldn’t sleep forever, and Garnet would soon find out. Amethyst wrung her hands. She was in for it now. She had no choice but to come clean.  _ Best to start at the beginning, with her and Pearl’s night together _ , she thought. 

“Pearl and I-,” began Amethyst, but Garnet cut her off impatiently, her grip on Steven tightening. He whined in discomfort.

“This isn't about  _ Pearl _ , Amethyst, this is about  _ you _ !” roared Garnet, her fury boiling over. 

Amethyst tried to interject, but Garnet held up her free hand, quieting her. Amethyst’s stomach clenched. Could this day get any worse?

“I'm  _ sick _ of the two of you being at each other's throats constantly! I go on missions to avoid you two! I could’ve used you on this last mission. But I go  _ alone _ because I can’t  _ trust _ you with even something as simple as  _ babysitting _ !”

Steven wiggled at Garnet’s volume, trying to get down. Garnet looked down at him, momentarily distracted from her lecture. The sight of him, dirty and scared, served only to provoke her further. 

“Garnet, let me explain!” begged Amethyst. The fusion was in no mood to listen. She wondered what had happened on the mission, and what Garnet meant by needing her on it. Garnet didn't look worse for the wear, but she had been gone for a week. 

“Look at him!” Garnet ordered, her face lined with fury. Garnet held Steven by the armpits in front of her. Her eyes bored into her with disgust. 

For the first time in the last eight hours, Amethyst had a chance to actually  _ look _ at him; rather than focus on her taxing labor, or her own demanding neonates. She had been so tired, and had been acting on autopilot. She had forgotten Steven was there until he dropped the Amethyst, he had been so quiet.  _ He was such a good baby _ , thought Amethyst.

His diaper was puffy and discolored at the back. His hands were stained blue and green and sticky, from what Amethyst didn't know. Most likely play dough. She wondered briefly where else he had gotten it and if he had eaten any. Unlike herself, the gems had to be mindful of what Steven put in his mouth. He had goosebumps on his arms and legs from not being properly clothed in winter. But what made Amethyst feel the most guilt was how he wouldn't look at her. 

He dropped the visor he had been enamoured with, his head twisting back to look at Garnet. His sticky hands scrabbled at her gloved ones. She ignored his begging to be snuggled.

Garnet set Steven in his crib, gripping the rail and breathing heavily. She leaned over, her shoulders tense and shaking. After a moment, Amethyst realized she was trying to calm herself. She wondered what had happened while Garnet was away. 

“Are you okay?” Amethyst asked in a soft tone. She reached out, touching Garnet's shoulder softly. Maybe they could talk it out. 

“Gah!” The fusion jerked in surprise, tearing the side of the crib off in surprise. Frustrated, she hurled it downstairs. It smashed downstairs and fell apart, the rods clattering and rolling across the living room floor. Amethyst took a step back, and Steven picked up a pacifier from the pile of cloth toys and teething rings in his crib and began sucking on it vigorously.

“I can't deal with this anymore!” Garnet said. She summoned a gauntlet, and swung it towards Amethyst, swerving suddenly at the last second. It hit the wall, leaving a crater. Splinters and pieces of the boards that made up the wall flew. Amethyst  stood still fearfully.

“Garnet?” she asked. “Let’s talk about this.”

She was ignored. Garnet began arguing with herself as though Amethyst and Steven weren't there.

“Don't hit her, she's our teammate!  _ Not after this! _ We need to calm down.  _ I can't! _ We must.  _ Look at Steven! _ You are no better than her if you fight her with violence.  _ How dare you! _ Ruby, you need to relax!  _ I can't deal with both of you right now! _ ” 

Garnet split, her components tumbling away from each other. Ruby’s hand still had her gauntlet on. Amethyst and Ruby stared at each other, waiting for the first blow. The tension in the air could be broken with a knife. 

Steven carefully dropped down from the crib as the volume of the argument increased. He crawled away from the yelling pair, heading to Sapphire. Ice spread from under her dress, her expression panicky. He shivered and changed course, crawling away from her. The blanket fort looked warm and sheltered from the chaos. He crawled in, only his bare feet sticking out.

“No good will come of fighting,” Sapphire warned. “We cannot change the past, only the future.”

“Sapphire, I'm gonna kick her butt!” said Ruby angrily.

“No Ruby, you won't!” replied Sapphire in irritation. “Be reasonable!”

“I'm gonna pummel her into shards!” Ruby shouted, jumping at Amethyst. “How’s that for reasonable?” 

Amethyst bared her teeth, letting out a low growl. Ruby had lunged in the direction of her young unknowingly and Amethyst’s instinct to protect overrode her fear and guilt. She pulled her whip out of her gem, prepared to fight for her offspring. Amethyst’s legs shook. This was a terrible idea, but she had no other choice. She sniffled.

Ruby swung her arm at her, hitting her in the stomach. Her abdomen was still sore from her pregnancy. She lashed out with her whip, making Ruby step back in surprise. She couldn't fight upstairs, with Steven and her babies. She had to lure the red gem away. 

“Ruby, we can't resort to violence,” Sapphire said.  _ At least one of them was willing to listen, _ thought Amethyst.

Ruby didn't bother to look at her before retorting, “Watch me.”

Ruby stepped closer, glove raised. Amethyst snarled at her, showing her teeth and cracking her whip. Her hair bristled. 

“I can't beat Garnet but I can beat  _ you _ !” snarled Amethyst in warning. “Stop trying to fight me!” She cracked her whip at Ruby's ankles. Ruby cursed in surprise. 

“There is no future in which this ends well for either of you,” Sapphire said in a monotone.

“I don't care,” shouted Ruby, dashing Amethyst's hopes to avoid a fight. She kicked at Amethyst, who stumbled back after her foot made contact with her shin. 

Amethyst aimed a punch in Ruby's direction. The gem ducked, swinging her gloved fist away Amethyst, hitting her in the chest. Amethyst grunted in pain. 

“Sapphire, make her stop!” she begged. Ruby growled in annoyance.

“I'm not Garnet! I don’t have to listen to Sapphire right now!” Ruby said.

“Just leave me alone!” shouted Amethyst, taking on a defensive stance.

Ruby tackled her and Amethyst rolled away from her instinctively. She was bigger than Ruby, and could overpower her in hand to hand combat. 

Realizing she was no longer between the furious gem and her hidden gemlings, she lassoed Ruby with her whip, sending her over the railing and into the living room below. There was a cracking sound, and Amethyst looked down to see that Ruby had landed on the coffee table, breaking it in half. She looked down, watching Ruby writhe in pain.

“Stop fighting me!” she called down. Ruby snarled at her, but stayed put, the remains of the coffee table smoldering under her feet. Sapphire had turned her back on the sparring pair and Amethyst turned to her. 

She walked over to the blanket fort, where Steven’s pale feet could be seen. 

Amethyst’s heart jumped to her stomach. Sapphire, and eventually Garnet, would be disappointed in her in three, two….

“Steven, come out.” Sapphire crouched down, stepping under the blankets draped over the entrance. Some of the gemlings chirped at the new scent. 

Sapphire dismantled the fort partially, removing the blanket on top of the cushion walls. She reached for Steven, and two of the gemlings climbed onto her sleeve.

“Ruby, you need to see this,” she said in awe. Ruby’s furious mumbling from the living room continued as if Sapphire hadn't spoken. 

The tears watering in Amethyst’s eyes spilled over. “Don't touch them!” she begged, skidding over to where Sapphire was standing. Ruby made her way up the stairs at the commotion.

Ice spread further from where Sapphire was standing, beginning to make its way up the walls. “Oh,” she said, soothing the two in her embrace. 

Amethyst dove into the cushions, scooping the remaining four into her lap. “Give them to me!” sniffled Amethyst, reaching for the pair of gemlings. Amethyst began to cry harder. Her gemlings added to the noise level, mewling in worry at hearing their carrier upset. Sapphire stroked the two gemlings in her grip before handing them back to Amethyst. Amethyst held them close to her face. They joined their siblings, one in her hair, and the other clinging to her shoulder. Steven adjusted himself in Sapphire’s skirts, sucking on his pacifier sleepily. 

“What  _ are _ those?” asked Ruby, her anger forgotten.

“Babies!” squealed Steven excitedly, looking between the cushion fort and Sapphire.

“Sapphire, let me see.” She reached for the pink haired Amethyst in her carrier’s arms. 

“No, don’t,” choked out Amethyst between sobs. Steven looked up at Amethyst. 

“Ama’tis crying,” Steven babbled, crawling towards her. “Uh oh.”

Sapphire and Ruby linked hands, fusing into Garnet with a flash of light. 

“Leave me alone,” whimpered Amethyst. “Please. I know I fucked up, I’m sorry.”

Garnet phased on her visor. “Amethyst,” she breathed. She squatted down to the purple gem’s level and Amethyst flinched in response.

Amethyst looked up in annoyance through watery eyes. All she wanted to do was sleep. The adrenaline from her spat from earlier was waning and she pulled a blanket around herself like a cape. Steven crawled under the trailing tail of it, tugging lightly. Amethyst let him crawl into her lap, watching warily to make sure he didn't squish her babies. She patted his fluffy hair, feeling guilty for her earlier treatment of him. He clung to her sweaty tank top, his fingers ticklish.

“Go away,” she told Garnet, hiding her face behind her hair. 

For once, Garnet sounded unsure of what to say. She stammered out, “I, we didn't know. I’m sorry, Amethyst.” 

“I tried to tell you but you wouldn't listen,” accused Amethyst. Her voice broke at the end, ruining the indignant effect. Garnet flinched guiltily.

“Move over,” Garnet said, ignoring Amethyst's protests. She sat down gingerly on the edge of the cushion.

“You gave birth all alone,” Garnet commented, more to herself than Amethyst. “I should've been there.”

“I didn't know they would come so soon,” Amethyst said. She sniffled, and swiped at her runny nose. Her voice rose in pitch, ending in a wail. “I guess I thought they’d not come if I ignored them. And then you left, and then Pearl left.”

Garnet looked abashed. “I should have paid more attention. I can't believe I didn't notice this.”

Amethyst turned to sneak a glance at Garnet. Her leaky and puffy black eyes reflected in the visor. Garnet's mouth was parted, and Garnet's hands were twitching on her knees, looking as though she wanted to reach out and hug her.

Irritation surged through Amethyst. Now Garnet wanted to be affectionate and play the leader? “You weren't there when I needed you. I don't need you now. Don't want you now.”

“I'm sorry, Amethyst,” said Garnet. She touched her hand lightly to Amethyst's shoulder. Amethyst sulked, shrugging off the gloved palm. Garnet sighed. 

“What about your future vision?” Amethyst accused. “You knew and let me go through this alone. YOU KNEW AND DIDN'T CARE.”

Amethyst began sobbing once more. Rationally, she knew that she was being unreasonable, and that Garnet's future vision had limitations. She was still upset that Ruby had been so quick to fight her, and upset with herself for not taking care of Steven better. 

Steven clung to her as her litter began chirping once more. Garnet’s lips thinned. She tucked Amethyst’s bangs behind her ear, cupping a disrupted gemling in her palm. 

“Amethyst, you don’t mean that,” Garnet said, bringing the gemling up to her face to look closer at it. She patted her knee with her other hand.

“Hmph,” Amethyst said sulkily. But she scooted closer to Garnet all the same. Garnet smirked, letting the smaller gem lean into her without comment. There was a brief pause before Amethyst spoke again.

“I’m a fuckup,” Amethyst said. 

“Amethyst, don't say that,” chastised Garnet, though there was no bite to it. 

“You said it yourself,” Amethyst said miserably.

“Amethyst, don’t be like that,” Garnet said, watching the smaller gem yawn. She rubbed circles on her back with her free hand.

“But you said you can’t trust me with simple stuff, like even babysitting,” Amethyst whined tiredly. “Ruby said I’m not your teammate anymore.”

“Shhh,” Garnet replied. “We were wrong.”

Amethyst shifted until her knee was touching Garnet’s thigh. “I'm trying to be good. But you hate me cause I'm bad.”

“I know you’re trying,” Garnet replied. “We both miss Rose.”

There was another lull in the conversation. Amethyst’s eyes felt sticky and her muscles were sore.

“Your turn to babysit,” she said, closing her eyes. Garnet smiled wryly, surveying the wrecked house and mewling gemlings.

“Fine,'' she said.


End file.
